


What We Are Not

by Magi Silverwolf (Magi_Silverwolf)



Series: B-I-N-G-O [7]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alpha Remus Lupin, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, And it's Remus, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Omega Nymphadora Tonks, Omega Sirius Black, Omega Verse, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter Friendship, Tonks Knows What She Wants, and his biscuits
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-11
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-26 13:39:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19769338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magi_Silverwolf/pseuds/Magi%20Silverwolf
Summary: Remus thinks he's a violent monster. Tonks thinks she has no interest in alphas. They're both wrong.





	What We Are Not

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the original canon nor am I making any profit from writing this piece. All works are accredited to their original authors, performers, and producers while this piece is mine. No copyright infringement is intended. I acknowledge that all views and opinions expressed herein are merely my interpretations of the characters and situations found within the original canon and may not reflect the views and opinions of the original author(s), producer(s), and/or other people.  
> Warnings: This story may contain material that is not suitable for all audiences and may offend some readers. Please exercise understanding of personal sensitivities before and during reading.  
> Author’s Note(s): I’m spamming out various prompts for Shipping War and my various Bingo games that I’m in. Another member of the writing forum has trouble understanding everything about ABO/Omegaverse, so she’s drafted me to take care of those prompts for her ships. Thus there’s going to be a bunch of those hitting this collection.

-= LP =-  
What We Are Not  
-= LP =-

Remus had always known that he was dangerous. Or it had felt that way, because of the lycanthropy. He wasn’t allowed to make friends with the other children in the villages they lived near, and not just because they moved so frequently. Inevitably, any attempt Remus made would turn into a fight. He could never explain it, even if it was always the same thing: a red haze covering his mind followed the urge to claw and punch until the other kids understood how strong he was. Every time it happened, they would be forced to move again, leaving in the middle of the night like thieves.

By the time Albus Dumbledore broke into their house to insist that Remus attend Hogwarts over his parents’ objections, Remus knew that he was a violent monster who must focus on doing his best to avoid any conflicts. He was already well practiced at breathing through any urge to snap or snarl. He did his best to hang onto the tattered scraps of humanity that he had, never even daring to hope for more.

Then he met Sirius Black and Lily Evans, who both made his tenuous control into a slippery eel. Yet the urges were different with them. Instead wanting to prove how much stronger he was than them, he had the urge to protect them from any potential harm. And the two are idiots when came to keeping themselves healthy, so Remus quickly figured out where the kitchens were and made friends with the house elves. Lily rolled her eyes but always accepted the snacks and tea that he would shove at her, already used to overbearing friends insisting she eat while studying. Sirius, on the other hand, was volatile and just as likely to accept the food as throw it at the wall. James and Peter were no help, typically laughing at Remus’ protective instincts ending in disaster. The fact that Lily would accept Remus’ offerings while completely ignoring James’ just made James determined to rile her up every time she did, until Remus could feel the red haze urging him to beat one of his best friends to a bloody pulp.

He often found himself breathing through the urge, reminding himself that he was better than the beast he was during the full moon.

Somehow, it still took until well into his second year at Hogwarts for anyone to even mention the terms _alpha_ and _omega_ in conjunction to wix. All because Sirius’ cousin Andromeda had apparently managed to share a heat with a Muggle-born Ravenclaw who happened to be an alpha. Apparently, it was rare for Muggle-borns to be anything but betas, just as Muggles always were. The Blacks were nearly always omegas, with alphas being the next most prevalent, which made them a very desirable House to marry into when combined with how the Blacks tended to be more powerful magically. Andromeda had been arranged to be bonded to Lucius Malfoy since both of them had been born.

The whole affair blew up in an alpha challenge right in the Entrance Hall of Hogwarts. To make the scandal even more incredulous, Andromeda and Bellatrix had started dueling right alongside Ted Tonks and Lucius Malfoy’s fight. The two omegas had eventually sunk into a flurry of snarling rage, reduced to claws and teeth as instinct took over.

With that as the background, Sirius had explained the basics to Remus and Lily. The two bookworms wouldn’t have believed half of it if James hadn’t been explaining things as well. They still had shared a look that told the other that they would be verifying things from an independent source. It was just too fanciful to really believe, even in a world full of magic and creatures straight out of mythology.

“Why did you think you needed to make sure Sirius and Evans were fed and safe?” James said finally, throwing his hands up in frustration at Remus’ skepticism. “Why did you think Snape was always picking fights with anyone who looked at Evans for longer than half a second? He’s trying to scare off the competition.”

“I’m not a piece of meat to be fought over,” Lily argued hotly. Remus breathed through the burst of panic that James’ question had caused, thankful that Lily and James were too busy squabbling as normal to realize that Remus had no answers for those questions. It wasn’t like he could just announce that he was a werewolf, now was it?

Being an alpha didn’t change the fact that he was a monster.

-= LP =-

Her mother had named her _Nymphadora_ , both as a caution to others and a reminder of the expectations that would be made of her. She had always hated the name and everything that it represented. Who cared if she was adored by nymphs? It wasn’t like they were still around to avenge wronged omegas. No one paid attention to those old stories anymore.

Most omegas weren’t even the subject of traditional alpha challenges!

Besides, she was quite certain that she didn’t even want an alpha. Nearly every single one that she had met were nothing but knotheads. The only alpha other than her father who hadn’t been extremely rude had been Bill Weasley, but unfortunately, because of being best friends with Charlie for so many years, she couldn’t think of Bill as anything except a brother. By the time she had graduated the Auror Academy, she had pretty much sworn off not just all alphas but also all men. They just weren’t worth the effort, not even for opening jars.

Magic was bloody awesome.

So she didn’t really think anything of it when Remus Lupin had started handing her a cup of tea every time she showed up at Grimmauld Place, fixed exactly how she liked it. It was actually a relief to not have to fuss with making one herself. Molly Weasley always liked to _critique_ her methods, even if Tonks was of the opinion that Molly’s tea-making was less than stellar. Remus also had a habit of including a plate of her favorite biscuits with the tea delivery. He even managed to get the shifting cycle of her cravings down, making sure to include more jammy dodgers and chocolate ones whenever her heat was coming on.

Courtship instincts were the furthest thing from her mind, even though she did know that Remus was an alpha. It was just that Remus rarely showed any alpha traits, not even in minor verbal squabbles that were completely normal and accepted between alphas in the vicinity of each other. Sirius was more confrontational towards the alphas in the order than Remus was, and Sirius was every inch an omega, just like she was.

She had just come through the Floo, tripping over her own feet as normal. One of the many blessings that came along with being a Metamorphmagus was the clumsiness born of never quite being the same portions. She would normally get embarrassed at the lack of graceful entrances but coming straight off a thirty-hour stint that had ended with a firefight and being less than a day away from a heat cycle had just tapped her out. So instead of trying to play it off, she had let herself sprawl across the receiving room couch and its occupants.

“Tough day?” Sirius asked as he shifted her knees out of his stomach. She grunted at him, not wanting to talk about it, and rubbed her cheek against the soft cotton of Remus’ thigh. She would be perfectly happy to sleep for the next decade or so. Sirius patted her hip sympathetically. “You know, Moony’s gonna go nuts until he can fix you a cuppa, right?”

“Don’t care,” she whined. Remus ran his fingers through her short hair. She hummed. “You have forever to stop that.”

“I have chocolate-covered jammy dodgers,” Remus said, still combing his fingers through her hair. She opened one eye to look at him calculatingly.

“Blackberry?”

“Of course,” he agreed, “and I picked up some more of the raspberry leaf tea. It will take only a few minutes and then you can have all the cuddles you want.’

She shifted to let him up, settling against her cousin’s side. Sirius curled an arm around her shoulders. His other hand rubbed her knees that were still draped over his legs. With a sigh, she laid her head against his shoulder. The comforting scent of family helped relieve some of her exhaustion.

“I’m gonna to bond that man,” she announced sleepily, “and then I shall have all the biscuits.”

“Don’t forget the tea,” Sirius reminded her.

“He does make the best tea,” she agreed, already slipping into sleep. “I love him.”

“For his tea and biscuits?”

She hummed something like agreement. Other alphas might not be worth the hassle, but Remus wasn’t just any alpha. He was going to be hers, no matter how long it took to convince him. After all, she was adorable.

-= LP =-  
An Ending  
-= LP =-

**Author's Note:**

> Challenge/Competition Block:  
> Stacked with: MC4A (FPC; BAON; ToS; StL; SIN; Star; Fence; AV; SpBingo; Ship; War; T3; SN; FR; O3)  
> Individual Challenges: Alpha & Omega; Short Jog; Gryffindor MC (x2); Hufflepuff MC; Brush; Creature People; Seeds; Shipmas; Ways to the Heart; Minerva’s Migraine; Golden Times  
> Space Address (Prompt): Spring Bingo [5D] (Tea)  
> Representation: Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks; Blacks;  
> Bonus Challenge(s): For the Vine; Creature Feature; Second Verse (Ladylike; Not a Lamp; Persistence Still; Sneeze Weasel; Zucchini Bread; Middle Name; Mother Hen; Spinning Plates; Unwanted Advice); Chorus (Odd Feathers; Wabi Sabi; Machismo; Mouth of Babes; Tomorrow’s Shade; Larger than Life; Unicorn)  
> Tertiary Bonus Challenges: T3 (Thimble); SN (Rail; Ameliorate); FR (Liberation); O3 (Orator; Oath)  
> Word Count: 1500


End file.
